Teach Opportunity Cost with “Uncle Jed’s Barbershop”

Students listen to the book Uncle Jed’s Barbershop, about an African American barber who, despite significant setbacks, saves enough money to buy his own barbershop. From the story, students learn about saving, savings goals, opportunity cost, and segregation. The students participate in a card game to further investigate what it takes to reach a savings goal.

We would like to thank the Federal Reserve Banks of St. Louis and Philadelphia for allowing us to link to this lesson.   Download the pdf or access an interactive whiteboard (SMART/Notebook or ActivInspire/flipchart) lesson at https://www.federalreserveeducation.org/teaching-resources/economics/scarcity/uncle-jeds-barbershop

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